This weekend, pumpkin sculptor extraordinaire <a href="http://villafanestudios.com/" target="_blank">Ray Villafane</a> returned to the <a href="http://www.nybg.org/exhibitions/2012/halloween/index.php" target="_blank">New York Botanical Garden</a> to bring a creeptastic new carving to life before our very eyes. The Food Network star and his team spent Saturday and Sunday <a href="http://inhabitat.com/nyc/photos-ray-villafane-carves-the-worlds-largest-pumpkin-into-an-intricate-spine-tinglingly-sculpture/" target="_blank">whittling and shaping an army of living dead from some of the area’s biggest Halloween gourds</a>. We were on hand to watch as Villafane's scary scene - a disemboweled pumpkin zombie dredging up a pumpkin-headed crew of ghouls - took shape.

Villafane and his crew of Trevor Grove, Alfred Paredes, Chris Vierra and Andy Bergholtz, a contender on the Food Network’s “Halloween Wars,” took oversized pumpkins from around the country under the knife.

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Ray Villafane Pumpkin Zombies

This year, a life size standing pumpkin zombie rose from the soil, pulling pumpkin vines attached to other pumpkin zombies in the garden.

One arm outstretched as if to grab his next victim, while the other grips a rope to uproot his zombie brethren.

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Ray Villafane Pumpkin Zombies

His horrific face recoils in a scream, bearing just one pumpkin seed tooth.

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Ray Villafane Pumpkin Zombies

The other pumpkin headed zombies, with stems still attached, are partially unearthed from the pumpkin garden, their upper torsos just breaking above the dirt.

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Ray Villafane Pumpkin Zombies

The team worked around the clock to “graft” layers of pumpkin skin to the bodies of the zombies, protecting the inside flesh so that visitors may enjoy the <a href="http://inhabitat.com/nyc/head-to-the-high-line-for-a-haunted-halloween-scavenger-hunt-on-october-27th/" target="_blank">spooky scene until Halloween</a>.

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Ray Villafane Pumpkin Zombies

Kids could try their hands at <a href="http://inhabitat.com/nyc/the-great-jack-o-lantern-blaze-lights-up-the-hudson-valley/" target="_blank">sculpting pumpkins</a> at an adjacent table, while sipping on hot cider.

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Ray Villafane Pumpkin Zombies

The audience was able to ask Villafane himself about tips for carving during two Q&amp;As each day.

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Ray Villafane Pumpkin Zombies

The gory haunting extended into the nearby children’s discovery garden, where <a href="http://inhabitat.com/nyc/maniac-pumpkin-carvers-create-spectacular-and-spooky-jack-o-lanterns-in-nyc/" target="_blank">jack-o-lanterns</a> joined more of Villafane's zombie-faced pumpkins.

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Ray Villafane Pumpkin Zombies

We can’t wait to see what chilling scene he and his team come up with next year!